Plastic bags are commonly used in supermarkets, department stores and similar applications. These bags have advantages in that they are relatively inexpensive to produce, provide substantial carrying capacity and may include easily used handles. The bags may be dispensed from flat packs or from dispensers for bags wound on rolls. Several problems are typically encountered when thin, flexible bags are used for bagging fresh produce and similar items.
Thin plastic bags tend to stick together and the mouths of the bags tend to be difficult to open. When the bags are dispensed from flat packs, they can easily become disordered and often more than one bag is taken when it is desirable to select only one. When bags are dispensed from a roll, the leading bag can become stuck to the bag roll making it difficult to remove. Various designs for dispensers for roll mounted bags have been developed to control the flow of bags from the roll so that this problem is minimized.
Other designs have been developed to assist in the identification and opening of the bag mouth as the bags are withdrawn from the roll. Typically, bags wound on rolls are joined with a perforation at each end. If adequate means are not provided for severing these perforations, multiple bags can be dispensed requiring the user to then separate them manually. A number of different design have been developed for efficiently separating the bags from each other at the perforation line. Another problem often encountered with roll mounted bag dispensers relates to control of the spinning bag roll during dispensing. If the rotation of the bag roll is not adequately controlled the bag roll will overspin and several bags be dispensed without separation, potentially tangling the dispenser. For this reason, an effective bag roll braking device is desirable.
One solution to these problems is to fold the bags longitudinally and wind them on rolls and to provide a dispenser that controls the spinning of the bag roll and provides means for separating the bags while opening the bag mouths. The present invention addresses bag-dispensing systems of this configuration.
The inventor has discovered that materials used for the construction of dispensers for roll mounted bags can have a significant effect upon the suitability of the dispensing system for different environments. Traditionally, such dispensing racks have been fabricated from steel wire and plate that is then chrome plated or painted. Such construction has the advantage of rigidity and longevity, but is also subject to rust and corrosion in damp environments. In addition, such dispensers are heavy and relatively expensive to produce. To address these problems associated with steel and other metal dispensing racks, the inventor has turned to modem, high strength plastics for rack construction. For the purposes of this application, it should be understood that “wire” should be accorded it broadest reasonable reading. Wire need not be conductive, made of metal or have a solid core. In some embodiments chrome or nickel plated metal will be desirable, in other embodiments polymer coated metal, or non-metallic wire such as polyoxymethylene, also known as polyacetal, acetal resin, polytrioxane, polyformaldehyde, commonly known as DuPont Delrin®, may be used. Structural rigidity, porosity and resistance to moisture absorption are important criteria in selecting the appropriate materials. Any material now known or later discovered, possessing sufficient rigidity, and not susceptible to significant moisture absorption may be used. Material specifically contemplated by the inventor include, without limitation, high density polyethylene (HDPE), high molecular weight polyethylene, polycarbonate; sold under such trade names as Lexan®, Markrolon® and Calibre®, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, known as ABS, and polyamide 66, also know as DuPont Nylon 66® or Zytel®. For purposes of this application, the term wire will be understood to include materials made from ferrous and non-ferrous metals, coated and uncoated, and various polymeric materials such as plastics, including but not limited to, those described above.
Food borne pathogens can be a significant source of illness. The inventor has recognized the possibility that food borne pathogens may reside on packaging and packaging dispensers. Dispensers may go many months between cleanings. The inventor has discovered that antimicrobial additives can be incorporated with plastic resins during compounding. These additives serve as an antimicrobial, limiting growth of a wide spectrum of microbes. The inventor also contemplates using antimicrobial-additive coatings, which can be applied to existing dispensers.
Various designs have been developed for roll mounted bags and dispensers for such bags, incorporating a number of different technologies.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,666 issued to Simhaee discloses a roll of plastic bags wound on a core in a star-sealed configuration for use with a dispenser having opposing tracks in which the roll is supported. The dispenser has a separating tongue for enabling individual bags to be separated from the roll. Separation lines are provided between adjacent bags, a slot in each separation line being engageable by the tongue within the dispenser so that individual bags may be dispensed from the roll one at a time.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,019 issued to Morris, describes a bag separator and dispenser for use with bags wound on a core and separated by perforation lines at each end of the bags. The perforation lines include a slot that is collinear with the perforations and is used to engage a separator projection. The projection enters the slot as the bags are pulled from the roll. The dispenser includes two braking devices to control the removal of bags from the roll, a braking bar underneath the roll of bags and a pair of fingers that are attached to the channel for the core and are designed to engage the core as the number of bags on the roll decreases.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,134, issued to Dancy discloses a deformable plastic bag dispenser for a continuous roll of plastic bags. The dispenser is cylindrical in shape and includes a longitudinal slot for dispensing the bags. Adjacent bags on the roll are attached by a perforated tear line. The dispenser is deformable to allow the operator to grip the roll by squeezing the dispenser, preventing further rotation of the roll, and allowing a bag to be removed from the roll.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,969 issued to Menendez describes a system for facilitating the sequential dispensing of individual bags from a roll, each bag having perforations along the leading edge to facilitate its separation from the next following bag and an elongated slit centrally located between the perforations. A dispenser is provided for receiving and supporting the roll of bags comprising a housing of a generally semi-cylindrical configuration. The housing has an interior end and an exterior end, a transverse opening formed in the housing at its interior end, a transverse slot formed in the housing at its exterior end, with the transverse slot separating the housing into an upper portion and a lower portion. Lips are formed in the upper portion and the lower portion of the housing on opposite sides of the slot with the lips curved in a direction opposite from the curvature of the remainder of the housing. A finger is formed in the center of the slot extending upwardly from the lower portion adapted to receive a slit in the region between adjacent bags. A recess is formed in the center of the slot extending upwardly in the upper portion of the housing adapted to receive the finger. Flanges extend outwardly from the dispenser adjacent to the transverse opening and a bracket is adapted to receive and support the dispenser.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,390 issued to Simhaee is directed to a multi-ply plastic bag from a continuous strip of bags on a roll that is supplied to a user with the top of the bag partially opened. A tear line between the bottom of a leading bag and a top of a subsequent bag separates the individual bags. A broad slit centrally located in the tear line passes through all but one ply of the strip of bags. The bag dispenser has an upwardly projecting tongue that engages the slit in the tear line when a user draws a bag from the dispenser. The tongue impedes the subsequent bag from moving forward. The adjacent bags separate along the tear line. The ply that does not have a slit rides over the tongue and pulls apart the plies at the opening of the subsequent bag before the leading bag completely separates from the subsequent bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,084, issued to Daniels, the present inventor, discloses a rack for dispensing plastic bags from a roll of bags joined end-to-end and separated by a line of perforations and either an opening or a rupturable central area between the bags along the perforation line. The rack comprises a rectangular cradle to hold the roll for removal of bags by unrolling them over a horizontal side element and past a pair of snagging elements which intercept the rupturable central area to restrain each ensuing bag as the preceding bag is pulled away from the roll. This enables the preceding bag to be separated from the ensuing bag along the perforated and open or rupturable central area line. Provision is made to enable the cradle to be mounted either on or under a store counter, or against a wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,168 issued to Kannankeril et al. describes a dispensing apparatus for serially dispensing plastic bags from a wound roll of continuous flexible plastic bags joined along perforated severance lines. A box like container is provided which is adapted to receive the wound roll of plastic bags. The container has a bottom panel, a top panel, a rear panel, a front panel, and a pair of opposed side panels. The front panel defines a guide slot for guiding the plastic bags from the wound roll along a predetermined path and further defining a threading slide for threading the plastic bags from the wound roll into the guide slot. A separation tongue is located on the front panel for separating the plastic bags from the wound roll as the plastic bags engage the separation tongue along a predetermined path of travel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,585 also issued to Kannankeril et al. discloses a dispensing apparatus for serially dispensing plastic bags from a wound roll of plastic bags joined along perforated severance lines. A container is provided which is adapted to receive the wound roll of plastic bags. The container has a bottom, a pair of opposed sides having an inwardly facing flange extending therefrom, and a separating tongue projecting outward from the bottom. The flanges define a self-threading slide for threading the plastic bags from the wound roll along a predetermined path onto the separating tongue. The separating tongue separates the plastic bags from the wound roll as the plastic bags engage the separation tongue along a predetermined path of travel. A mounting bracket cooperates with the bottom to mount the container to a solid surface in a plurality of different positions while maintaining the desired orientation of the container, to ensure that the wound roll is biased against the bottom and the flanges for self-braking of the wound roll and for limiting overspinning thereof as plastic bags are serially separated therefrom.
It is an objective of the invention to provide a means for dispensing thin, flexible plastic bags while minimizing the space required for such dispensing. It is a further objective to provide a dispenser that reliably presents bags for individual dispensing and efficiently separates bags from each other at the perforation line. It is another objective of the invention to provide a dispenser that opens the bag mouth of the bags as they are dispensed. It is still another objective to provide for bag dispensers that can be mounted in a variety of different ways to suit the needs of particular store configurations. It is yet another objective to provide dispensers that do not require bags to be rolled onto cores. It is still another objective to provide a dispenser that is easy to clean and to refill. Finally, it is an objective of the invention to provide dispensers that can be easily and quickly loaded with new bag rolls without difficult threading of the leading bag on the roll.
While other variations exist, the above-described designs for roll mounted bags and dispensers are typical of those encountered in the prior art. While some of the objectives of the present invention are disclosed in the prior art, none of the inventions found include all of the requirements identified.